Don't Panic (2011)

self-released

####DISCLAIMER: Multi-instrumentalist Greg Simpson is also the Punknews.org staff writer known as greg0rb. Rest assured I'm not a very nice person so I would not go out of my way to butter Greg's biscuits. If, however, Greg's biscuits happen to be laying around, I may butter them. Wait wut?####

I'm not sure if it is because I'm on the cusp of the cusp of adulthood and running around naked from the waist down has lost some of its charm, but Outdoor Velour's Don't Panic really speaks to me. It is able to convey a certain sense of nostalgia while still letting that underpinning of frustration of the current moment beam on through, like that shiny spot from where people's heads rest when they fall asleep on the subway. Sounds bright, don't it?

While the EP takes some twists and turns, you got some '60s girl group, some '90s Dino Jr. guitar crunch, some folk...OV take a huge risk and throw a cover of a somewhat active band right smack into the middle of things: The Weakerthans' "One Great City!" is the subject of said cover. And know what? The cover rules! Outdoor Velour take the formerly acoustic ditty and run it through the ringer and it comes out a shoegazey thing that conveys the alienation of speaker in the song in a new and interesting way. The reverb on the vocals creates an echo that distances them from the distorted guitars, and when the drums pick up it does bridge that gap, but makes it too close, if you know what I mean.

This is a really swell debut offering. If you are interested in seeing what Dinosaur Jr. might sound like if they had been super into early Motown, you have to check this out. Even if you aren't interested in that, you should still probably give it a peek.